“We certainly came into this year with the expectation to be a playoff team,” Maloney said. “That to me is a minimum goal for this franchise. It didn’t happen, and so now we have to figure out what went wrong and that’s the job of myself and the staff and work with the coaches to get better and that’s what we’re all about here.”

A healthy Smith and a boost the offense would make for a good start in the offseason. The Coyotes have a host of young defensemen that could be dangled in a trade. Expect Maloney’s phone to be busy this summer.